Royal Comes Face to Face with his Ancestry
November 10 2006
When the Duke of Gloucester recently visited the Almshouses in Bournville, which are over one hundred years old, he was following in the footsteps of his grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary. In 1919, the King and Queen toured the independent accommodation for older people, which one current resident, who was three years old at the time, remembers vividly. She told the Duke that she was very disappointed that the King and Queen were not wearing their crowns!
An almshouse is a privately supported scheme offering accommodation to the aged or needy. The Bournville Almshouse Trust was established by Richard Cadbury in 1897 to accommodate mainly retired Cadbury workers. Three storey houses and 33 bungalows called ‘The Quadrangle’ were built according to a design by Birmingham Architect Euan Harper, to complement what Richard?s brother, George Cadbury was doing to create his model village.
King George and Queen Mary visited Bournville as part of a morale boosting tour after the Second World War.
The Duke of Gloucester’s recent tour included Bournville Junior School and the world famous Bournville Carillon, which are both celebrating their centenary years.
